8 in LIVING & WORKING PROVENCE Rousset, Gardanne and Meyreuil Business Parks The Arc basin brings together a variety of landscapes; wooded slopes, urbanizations, agricultural land, and industrial areas where the main activity is microelectronics. The Rousset, Gardanne and Meyreuil business parks are remarkably well connected, offering a pleasant environment to live and work in, at the heart of the Aix countryside. New arrivals will soon fall under the sweet spell of living a totally Provençal lifestyle. www.investinprovence.com
ARE YOU GOING TO BE WORKING IN ROUSSET CHOOSE YOUR LIFESTYLE! ARE YOU A CITY PERSON? Nicknamed the little Versailles of the South, Aixen-Provence is one of the loveliest cities to live in, with its pedestrian center ideally suited for strolling between fountains and terraces. It is a university city with almost 40,000 students studying at the law and humanities colleges, the political studies institute (IEP), the teacher training college, and the national school of Arts and Crafts. Aix-en- Provence hosts internationally acclaimed festivals of music and dance, and has some beautiful performance venues including the Pavillon Noir and the Grand Théâtre de Provence. DO YOU PREFER THE COUNTRYSIDE? With direct highway access to your work, the villages of Brignoles and Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume charm, with their location at the foot of the Sainte-Baume mountain range, equidistant from the first Alpine foothills and the sea. Whilst being socially and culturally dynamic, each of these towns boasts a charming ancient center with well-preserved architectural heritage. LA PROVENCE, THE PLACE TO BE! DO YOU DREAM OF A PROVENÇAL VILLAGE? To the southeast of Aix, with the Sainte-Victoire mountain immortalized so many times by Cézanne as a backdrop, those who love pretty Provençal villages will set down their suitcases in Châteauneuf-le-Rouge or Fuveau. These villages perch in their surroundings, with steep little streets, wash houses and fountains, and they are well located between Aix and Marseille, served by the highway and just 15 minutes from your work. Both vibrant villages, Châteauneuf-le-Rouge hosts the Provençale food festival, whilst Fuveau is home to a renowned literary festival. www.investinprovence.com
, GARDANNE AND MEYREUIL? A GUIDE TO THE BUSINESS PARKS Going to work It s 30 minutes to the Marseille-Provence international airport, 20 minutes to the TGV station at Aix-en-Provence, and there s direct access to highways A51 and A8, which get you to Aixen-Provence in 10 minutes and Marseille in 20 minutes. The Cartreize public transport network ensures that the areas are well connected. Accommodation Rental rates Geographical sectors T2 T3 House Aix-en-Provence 630-740 IC 820-1100 IC 1300-1500 IC Châteauneuf le Rouge 620-750 IC 800-1100 IC 900-1300 IC Fuveau 600-750 IC 680-980 IC 700-950 IC Saint Maximin Brignoles 400-550 IC 600-830 IC 700-1000 IC Rental rates and prices are not contractual and are provided as a guide only Medical Services The Rousset, Gardanne and Meyreuil business parks are located between the hospitals of Aix-en-Provence and Marseille (3400 beds), comprising France s second healthcare hub. At Aix-en-Provence there is the 780-bed public Pays d Aix hospital complex, a 200-bed multidisciplinary private clinic, and a private general hospital renowned for its surgical unit. Marseille offers four regional general hospitals (CHR) operated by the Marseille Hospitals Welfare Service (APHM), and this is complimented by high-level private healthcare establishments such as the European hospital, which was opened in 2013. Brignoles has a general hospital with 256 beds, of which one is a maternity bed. A few purchase prices T2 apartments in à Aix-en-Provence from 248 000 T3 apartments in Saint Maximin from 181 000 Detached house in Brignoles with 4 bedrooms and a small garden from 160 000
Sports Fitness circuits, horse riding centers, 18-hole golf in the Aix countryside, hikes on foot or mountain bike rides around Sainte-Victoire, there s no shortage of outdoor activities. As well as fitness centers and sports clubs, you will find swimming pools at Aix and Fuveau (brand new!), and in summer at Brignoles and Saint- Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume. Not forgetting that in less than an hour you can be at the sea, with its range of exhilarating watersports (kite surfing, sailing, diving ). Lunch near your workplace At the Gardanne, Rousset and Meyreuil business parks there is a bakery so you can eat on the go, caterers who deliver to the office, pizza trucks and a restaurant offering daily specials. You can also have lunch nearby in the town centers of Gardanne, Meyreuil and Rousset. Shopping At the heart of Aix-en-Provence you ll find the Provençal Lanes, a very pleasant open-air shopping venue of a manageable size, which brings together more than 50 stores, some of them big international brands. Food, leisure equipment, household goods, clothes To be sure to find absolutely everything, head 20km from Aix to Plan de Campagne, the biggest shopping center in France with over 400 stores. And the icing on the cake is that it s open on Sundays! Did you know? Every summer since 1948 the Aix-en-Provence Lyric Art Festival has taken place. This is an internationally recognized festival of opera and classical music. In June and July, high-flying artists take up residence in some beautiful spaces, such as the Jeu de Paume Theatre with its Italian room dating back to the 18 th century, the Grand Théâtre de Provence with its wonderful acoustics, and the new Darius Milhaud Conservatoire de Musique designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Kuma.
DO YOU HAVE CHILDREN? Among the cities of Aix-en-Provence, Châteauneuf-le-Rouge, Fuveau, St Maximin, Brignoles, you will find 1 : 35 DAYCARE CENTERS, 51 PRESCHOOLS, From nursery to high school 65 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, 20 MIDDLE SCHOOLS, 21 HIGH SCHOOLS. International sections, in which some classes are taught in a foreign language,have opened in several middle and high schools in Aix-en-Provence (German and English), in Marseille (German, English, Arabic, Spanish and Italian) and in Les Pennes Mirabeau (English). Whether they re (still) babies or (already) teenagers, rest assured there will be a pre-school, primary and secondary education option to suit your needs. AMU (Aix-Marseille University): the largest university in the French-speaking world. Wide-ranging and multidisciplinary education options that encompass all disciplines: The arts, humanities, and social sciences, Economics and management, Health care, Science and technology, Law. A university with a global outlook: 45 degrees through international partnership arrangements and 10 Erasmus Mundus programs. IAE Aix (Aix Marseille Graduate School of Management) : in the top of 30 best Graduate Schools of Management in the world 2. Elite higher education institutions (Grandes écoles): ParisTech (Ecole Nationale des Arts et Métiers) in Aix-en-Provence (Arts et Métiers Engineering School), Centrale in Marseille, Ecole Nationale d Architecture de Marseille (National School of Architecture), Kedge Business School, Polytech (Marseille), IAE, Sciences Po Aix-en-Provence, CMP Gardanne (Branch of the Ecole des Mines de Saint Etienne) 1 - Data is for information purposes only and may be modified in the future 2 - Financial Times 2013 Ranking Higher education 90,000 students (Académie Aix Marseille) 5 large campus 12 Post graduates Center of Microelectronics in Provence - Georges Charpak a Research and Education center of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint Etienne (ENSM-SE), located in Gardanne 2013 Shanghai Ranking: IN THE TOP 150 UNIVERSITIES WORLDWIDE (OUT OF 500) AND IN THE TOP 6 FRENCH UNIVERSITIES.
KEY FIGURES Business Parks of Rousset 158 Business Parks of Meyreuil 207 Business Parks of Gardanne 180 7,300 1,435 Business Parks of Haute Vallée de l Arc 915 12,500 More than 800 181 210 250 44 Companies operating IN THE BUSINESS PARKS: APX HOPEN SYNSTAR - EDITAG - ELIS SANTÉ - INTEL - LIDL - MICROCHIP - OKO SOLUTION - MIXXIT - SCIFIP - SNET - STMICROELECTRONICS - MAYAMAX - TINTEO - VELEANCE - WYSIPS Following the opening of the new INTEL site at Meyreuil in 2014, I came to live in Aix-en-Provence with my wife and my three children. We weren t familiar with Aix, or with Provence. After 8 years of expat life in Asia, in Seoul then Singapore, we didn t want to end up in the countryside. We preferred to stay in town for the cultural life, activities for the children (they re at the academy of music), and the pleasure of being able to do everything on foot. We were lucky to find a house a stone s throw from the pedestrianized center; the children go to school on their scooters, and we have independent cinemas, theatres and a market nearby. It s easy here and Aix is well-connected; my office is 15 minutes by bus, the airport is 20 minutes away, and we re really not very far away from skiing and kite surfing spots! Arnaud PIERRES Engineering Manager INTEL (Meyreuil Business Park) This leaflet was produced by: Download our welcome brochure www.investinprovence.com Création : Arc en ciel Marseille - Crédits photo : Fotolia - CPA C. Michel, DR Gardanne Rousset Meyreuil